Characters The Buffalo Hunter Hunter Stephen Graham Jones

The Cat Man / Nachzehrer: The Ancient Vampire of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

Overview

The Cat Man—also called the Nachzehrer—is the ancient undead creature whose blood creates the novel’s chain of supernatural consumption. He first appears locked in an iron cage decorated with crosses, found by Good Stab’s war party. Originally from a European ship, he has lived for over four hundred and fifty years, adapting his body and language to survive. He serves as both the source of Good Stab’s transformation and the novel’s primary antagonist.

Plot Role

The Cat Man initiates the story’s central horror. When Good Stab’s party discovers him caged, they mistake him for a deity and attempt to transport him. The creature’s eventual freedom leads to the deaths of Good Stab’s companions. Later, the Cat Man kills Weasel Plume—the beloved buffalo—and the entire herd on Face Mountain. He entombs Good Stab in an ice cave, forcing him to gnaw off his own hand to escape. In the final confrontation, Good Stab defeats the Cat Man using a blood-poisoning trap, but the creature is not fully destroyed; a faint heartbeat remains in his ice-bound body.

Motivations and Traits

The Cat Man’s primary motivation is cruelty. He deliberately prolongs suffering, both physical and psychological. He taunts Good Stab in Blackfeet, a language he learned by living among the Pikuni, to demonstrate his infiltration. He takes pride in his age and worldly knowledge, describing oceans and flying fish to diminish Good Stab’s experience. His physical traits evolve based on diet—after feeding on long-legs (elk), he grows antlers from his head. He is patient, building an elaborate network of ice tunnels to house his lair. Despite his power, he can be defeated by cunning rather than brute force, which suggests his arrogance blinds him.

Interpretation: The Cat Man’s cruelty may stem from centuries of isolation and predation, turning existence into a game of torment. However, the text shows his actions are deliberate, not instinctive.

Chronological Arc

The Cat Man’s history is revealed in fragments. He was captured on a ship and held in a cage of iron bars for an unknown period, likely decades or centuries. Good Stab’s war party frees him during a skirmish with soldiers. After Good Stab drinks his blood and becomes a vampire, the Cat Man disappears. He reappears on Face Mountain, having killed Weasel Plume and the herd. He then entraps Good Stab in an ice river, where Good Stab spends an unknown number of winters clawing free. The final battle occurs at an ice-river lake, where Good Stab’s trap succeeds. The Cat Man is pinned under the ice with iron stakes, still alive but incapacitated.

Relationships

  • Good Stab: The Cat Man is both creator and nemesis. He transforms Good Stab by feeding him his blood, then treats him as a rival. Their dynamic mirrors Good Stab’s internal struggle: the Cat Man embodies the complete surrender to hunger that Good Stab resists.
  • Weasel Plume: The buffalo is killed without purpose, purely for maximal pain. The Cat Man skins him alive while he is conscious, then leaves the body on Weasel Plume’s own robe as a message of contempt.
  • Kills-in-the-Water: She is used as bait in the trap. The Cat Man is drawn by the sweetness of her blood, which Good Stab describes as sweeter than any other. (Explicit fact: Good Stab bites her at the same moment to inject his blood into the Cat Man.)

Key Decisions and Consequences

The Cat Man’s decision to not kill Good Stab immediately after transformation allows Good Stab to plan revenge. Choosing to entomb Good Stab in ice rather than finish him directly creates the conditions for his own defeat. His arrogance in walking into the trap, despite knowing Good Stab has set it, proves fatal. Interpretation: The Cat Man underestimates Good Stab’s determination and resourcefulness, a flaw born from centuries of unchallenged predation.

Theme/Symbol Connections

  • Vampirism as Consumption: The Cat Man embodies endless consumption—draining entire herds and people. This mirrors colonial appetite and the physical reality of genocide.
  • Colonial Violence and Genocide: He arrives from Europe in a ship, linking him to invasion. His cage decorated with crosses evokes the imposition of Christianity. His predation on the Blackfeet parallels historical violence.
  • Justice and Revenge: Good Stab’s defeat of the Cat Man is a form of justice, but it is bloody and incomplete—the creature still lives, a perpetual threat.
  • Identity and Cultural Erasure: The Cat Man learns Blackfeet language and lives among the people, yet remains a destroyer. He represents the risk of erasure from within, an internalized enemy.
  • Guilt and Absolution: Good Stab carries guilt for every death he causes. The Cat Man offers no absolution; he only feeds. The creature’s existence denies the possibility of moral cleansing.

Questions and Answers

  1. Why does the Cat Man kill Weasel Plume and the buffalo herd?
    Explicitly, the Cat Man says he kills them because they are “stupid animals.” He skins Weasel Plume alive and leaves the head as a taunt. This shows his cruelty and his desire to inflict psychological pain on Good Stab.

  2. How does Good Stab defeat the Cat Man?
    Good Stab uses Kills-in-the-Water as bait. He bites her while the Cat Man is drinking her blood, forcing his own poisoned blood into the Cat Man’s system. The Cat Man is then weakened, trapped in steel traps, and Good Stab feeds him tobacco until his blood runs black. He stakes the traps into the ice, leaving the Cat Man imprisoned but not dead.

  3. What is the significance of the Cat Man’s antlers?
    The antlers grow from feeding on long-legs (elk). They indicate his ability to adapt his body to available prey. Symbolically, they make him part animal, part human, reinforcing the theme of consumption changing identity.

  4. Is the Cat Man truly killed at the end?
    No. Good Stab hears a faint heartbeat from the Cat Man’s chest after the traps are set. The Cat Man coughs up a ring but remains alive in the ice. This is explicit in the text.

  5. Why does the Cat Man speak Blackfeet?
    He learns the language by living among the Pikuni for a winter or two. He uses it to taunt Good Stab more effectively, showing his willingness to infiltrate and destroy from within.